Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Chevy's (San Jose, CA): Nachos Grande

Lunch at Chevy's on a Wednesday afternoon with my good friend Karl. It doesn't get much better than that! Believe it or not, in the many times that I've eaten at Chevy's (and there have been many times), I'd never had their nachos before. When I opened the menu, I was presented with 2 choices for nachos, the 1150 calorie "Fajita Nachos" and the 1910 calorie "Nachos Grande". Against my better caloric judgement, I went with the Nachos Grande. Why? Because they come with "Salsa Chicken" instead of grilled chicken (fajitas are grilled, right?). It was the right choice. This is a good plate of nachos, albeit expensive as nachos go ($9.99). All the right elements are there, including jack cheese, cheddar cheese (a rarity), refries, tasty chicken, a great red sauce (enchilada sauce?), and sour cream, guacamole, and salsa fresca (pico de gallo). The only complaints at all that I have about these nachos are:
1. Why are they so hard to eat? It's almost impossible to get a chip with every ingredient on it because they're so haphazardly thrown together. You've gotta dig to get to the chicken, too.
2. Why didn't they use their epic warm, crispy corn chips that they give you free with every meal? As dipping chips go, they are my absolute favorite anywhere, and may have made it into my "Perfect" nachos post ahead of those from Taqueria Vallarta had I gone to Chevy's sooner. Instead, they used some pretty average tasting chips that were and entirely to large.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Rating Notes: Take a little time to assemble a nacho with all of the ingredients and these are really great tasting. ½ a point was deducted because of the price, which should have yielded a slightly larger portion with more meat.

Note: Not sure if you've been to a Chevy's before, but at the one in San Jose on Winchester where we ate, they used to have "El Machino", an ingenious device that would automatically fashion an awesome tasting flour tortilla from a little ball of dough. Fascinating to watch! Now, on the side of the front dining area where El Machino used to reside, they have a very generic looking tortilla press. Lame.